The Chords (English band)
The Chords were an English band.
The group's music combined influences from punk and mod of the 1960s. They were mainly influenced by The Jam and The Who . But unlike most mod revival bands, they didn't try to distance themselves from punk, but were inspired by Buzzcocks and The Undertones , for example .
history
In January 1979, singer and guitarist Billy Hassett and his cousin, bassist Martin Mason , looked for more musicians through the classifieds in the NME . Guitarist Chris Pope and drummer Paul Halpin got in touch , although he did not hold this position for long, but quickly became the band's manager. Instead, Brett Ascott joined the band.
In March of the same year they appeared on stage for the first time and in July they were invited by John Peel to play at a Radio One session. The single Now It's Gone climbed to number 63 in the British charts in September. The follow-up song Maybe Tomorrow , which addresses the resurgence of fascism in Europe , even climbed to 40th place and thus became the group's greatest commercial success.
In May 1980 the debut album was released with the title So Far Away , which reached number 30 on the album charts. In November Hassett was kicked out of the band and replaced by Kip Herring . In the summer of 1981, however, the band broke up.
In 1986 another live album was released, which was released under the telling title No One's Listening Anymore .
Discography
Albums
| year | title |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
 UK
|
|||
| 1980 | So far away |
UK30 (3 weeks) UK |
More albums
- 1986: No One's Listening Anymore
- 2001: At The BBC
- 2012: It Was Twenty Years Ago Today
Singles
| year | Title album |
Top ranking, total weeks, awardChartsChart placements (Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) |
Remarks |
|---|---|---|---|
|
UK
|
|||
| 1979 | Now It's Gone So Far Away |
UK63 (2 weeks) UK |
|
| 1980 | Maybe Tomorrow So Far Away |
UK40 (5 weeks) UK |
|
| Something's Missing So Far Away |
UK55 (3 weeks) UK |
||
| The British Way of Life |
UK54 (3 weeks) UK |
||
| In My Street |
UK50 (4 weeks) UK |
More singles
- 1981: One More Minute
- 1981: Turn Away Again
Web links
- The Chords at allmusic.com (English)